Sequoia Financial Group will delay the payment of a dividend to shareholders while finalising the sale of InterPrac Financial Planning.
The company told the ASX that the delay is pending notification from the exchange whether a shareholder meeting is required to be held.
The record date of 31 March 2026 for the dividend remains in place, but the payment date of 7 April has been delayed until 15 May 2026, and the 10 cent per share dividend payment will be made regardless of the outcome of the sale.
Sequoia announced last week it would sell the struggling InterPrac licensee for $50,000 to Conquest Investment Partners, leaving former clients anxious about the future of remediation regarding Shield and First Guardian master funds, while the Financial Advice Association Australia has described it as “puzzling” due to the buyer’s low profile.
Avalon FS made a deal with Sequoia to give InterPrac advisers an easy passage to move licensee, where they would not be required to pay the two-year professional indemnity (PI) levy imposed on exiting authorised representatives and they would receive priority position in the offboarding queue.
The decision from Sequoia to sell InterPrac followed a strategic review that was revealed in the company’s half-year results in February with the company later stating that pushback from platforms – by banning new business from its advisers – had made the future of the business untenable.
Sequoia managing director Garry Crole had publicly lobbied for platform trustees to utilise their operational risk reserves or ask for government assistance to remediate clients, often arguing they were just as culpable as any other party.
The group said that if the conditions in the sale agreement aren’t satisfied – including if the ASX determines that shareholder approval is required and shareholders don’t approve the sale – the board will instead write down the value of InterPrac by a further $7.5 million.
Sequoia said InterPrac has not paid dividends for over two years to maintain cash to deal with potential remediation and legal costs.
ASIC has taken InterPrac to court, arguing it failed to have sufficient oversight of advisers the regulator considers responsible for leading investors into the now-failed Shield and First Guardian master funds that have caused investor losses of around $1 billion.
The InterPrac sale allows Sequoia to remove its exposure to ongoing financial and regulatory uncertainty and that platforms will more likely be willing to work with the licensee under new ownership, the company believes.
InterPrac authorised representative Ferras Merhi, considered by ASIC to be a central figure in the distribution of the funds, has been taken to court by the regulator over allegations he received money from the funds to help market them through lead generators.
ASIC has alleged Merhi distributed 6000 Statements of Advice under his name within a three-year period.
InterPrac is also suing the Australian Financial Complaints Authority over concerns that the authority has not fairly handled the complaint resolution process after it released the lead determination last month.
